Spartan Named D3hoops.com All-Region

AURORA, Ill. March 19, 2008 - D3hoops.com announced the seventh-annual D3hoops.com All-Region team for Division III men's basketball. The Aurora University Spartan men’s basketball team placed one member on the All-Midwest Region Team.

Senior forward Larry Welton (Chicago, IL/Thornwood HS) was tabbed as a First-Team selection for the second consecutive season and was a D3hoops.com All-Region selection in each of his four seasons as a Spartan.

Welton continued to add to his legacy at AU during his senior season, which included moving into and finishing his career in second place on the AU all-time scoring list with 2,320 points. The all-time leading scorer is AU legend Mickey Johnson with 2,453 points.

Welton helped lead the Spartan men to a 22-7 record and a 16-2 record in the NAC, including winning the regular season conference championship. The 20 win season was AU’s first time in school history with 20 win seasons in back-to-back years. The Spartans advanced to the NCAA Division III championship for the second consecutive season and third time in four years but fell to Augustana College 72-61 at Augustana.

Welton averaged 21.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, en route to being named Northern Athletics Conference First-Team All-Conference. In his four seasons at AU, Welton tallied double-figure scoring outputs in 101 of the 110 contests, while tallying 20 or more points 61 times in his career.

Players were nominated by the sports information directors at the various schools, who were contacted several times as the season wound down to remind them to make their players eligible. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for 10 players in their region. SIDs voted for six front court players and four backcourt players and the top vote-getters at each position were named to the All-Region team.

"We are thankful to the sports information directors across Division III who took the time to nominate and vote to provide broader recognition of these worthy student-athletes," said D3hoops.com publisher Pat Coleman. "Their continued help and participation is integral to the All-Region team and everything else we do."

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